A Deep Dive in Indonesia
SAIS Students Explore Policy Challenges in Southeast Asia Study Trip
As part of the capstone course, Demystifying Indonesia: The Political Economy of an Important Southeast Asian State, taught by Professor Vikram Nehru, 15 students from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) traveled to Indonesia in January 2026 for an intensive two-week research experience.
Under Professor Nehru’s leadership, the students examined four contemporary challenges confronting Indonesia: digitization in education, evolving policies toward the armed forces, an evaluation of the country’s deforestation moratorium, and downstream nickel production. The trip combined academic engagements with specialized team field research, allowing students to build both broad understanding and deep sectoral expertise, culminating in a final research paper and presentations.
Students participated in meetings with government officials in Jakarta, including presentations by Dirgayuza Setiawan, a special assistant to the president of Indonesia, as well as an exploration of Indonesia's media landscape at the media outlet MetroTV, where the class was featured in a broadcast segment about the SAIS study trip. They also enjoyed academic exchanges at Universitas Indonesia, where Dean Evi Fitriani delivered a lecture on the country's foreign policy history.
A day trip to Bandung brought the group to Jenderal Achmad Yani University for discussions on military history by Professor Yohanes Sulaiman and a very engaging student-to-student exchange. Evening sessions featured expert briefings from James Castle of Castle Asia, and Indonesia’s deputy coordinating minister Rachmat Kaimuddin. Mohammed Al-Arief, managing director for governance and global affairs at the Indonesian investment management agency Danantara, Bert Hofman, former director of the East Asian Institute at National University of Singapore, and Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar of BRIN, the Indonesian national research and innovation agency also met with the SAIS students.
“Having spent time studying and visiting the region, I have come to see southeast Asia as more than a stage for great-power rivalry,” said participant Agnes Hwang, a second-year student in the Master of Arts in International Relations program at SAIS. “Indonesia has been an active force shaping present-day critical minerals and industrial development. Meeting with the government officials who designed and continue to implement these policies was genuinely exciting.”
In addition to their time in Jakarta, a research team from the group traveled to East Kalimantan for three days of immersive fieldwork with Conservation Action Network Borneo, where they met founder Paulinus Kristianto to understand grassroots conservation efforts and indigenous knowledge systems.
The visit included an alumni reception attended by 21 SAIS alumni as well as current students and prospective students hoping to begin their studies at SAIS during the next academic year. The Indonesia trip was rounded out with final research presentations that the student participants delivered at a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the World Bank. All four teams received substantive feedback from experts at both institutions.
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